


The Dark Tower

by ApoplecticAtPeace



Series: Traitor Queens [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Arthur loves Gwen, But Morgana also loves Gwen, Episode: s05e06 The Dark Tower, F/F, F/M, Hurt Gwen, Hurt Morgana, Stockholm Syndrome, The Dark Tower - Freeform, Torture, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:07:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21861943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApoplecticAtPeace/pseuds/ApoplecticAtPeace
Summary: When Gwen saw Morgana in the woods that day after visiting her father's grave, she hesitated. Maybe she did so for a reason. Maybe that is the beginning of the downfall of the kingdom. Or maybe it is one of hundreds of tiny beginnings over time. Either way, she is at Morgana's mercy, and neither know how this one slightly altered episode will alter the events of history.
Relationships: Gwen/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Gwen/Morgana (Merlin)
Series: Traitor Queens [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1565542
Kudos: 32





	The Dark Tower

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel to 'New Age'. I banged this out in a couple of hours, and quite happy with the results. Definitely enjoyed rewatching S5 E6 for 'research purposes'! Feel free to point out any errors, or suggestions as to where I should go, or what I should write next.
> 
> If you want to read more of this 'verse, remember to subscribe to the series and not the work itself, because it doesn't have multiple chapters.
> 
> Enjoy!

Gwen used to visit her fathers grave far more frequently before she reconnected with Elyan, and it always used to leave her in a sombre mood. But, as time passed, and she stood next to Sir Elyan as Queen of Camelot, the pain didn’t pierce her as much as it used to.

Even on the ride back, she could playfully banter with the knights, and they would laugh and play along. They were some of the bravest, well-trained men she knew, and she trusted them with her life. She knew they would protect her.

That was assuming bandits and the like would even attempt to mug four knights of Camelot travelling together.

She certainly wasn’t expecting snakes, and definitely not ones targeting specifically her, but nonetheless heeded her brother’s cry to head for the trees.

When she reached the ridge at a fast canter, it took her less than a second to recognise who was behind the snakes.

“Morgana.”

The small whisper left her lips before she could help it. She froze in her tracks as she took in the sight of the woman whom she hadn’t seen in so long.

It was only a moment. Her loyalty to Camelot, to her brother, to Merlin, and to her husband made her turn her horse away from Morgana.

She hesitated.

Arthur was not her first love, and certainly not her first loyalty.

Seeing Morgana again, even after so long, and so much change, still made Gwen stall.

Whatever caused her to pull the reigns in at the last second; whatever caused her to pause in anticipation of Morgana’s next move, eyes closed…

It changed everything.

Magic tore her off her horse and made her crash to the ground. Elyan and the other knights never saw what happened.

* * *

On waking up, Gwen took much pride in not showing her emotions to the woman sitting next to her on the forest floor.

“Good morning m’lady.”

Morgana’s smooth voice was more breathless than normal. Or maybe it was just Gwen’s heart hammering away inside her chest.

“What do you want with me?” Gwen cursed herself at the equally breathy tone she had replied in. “What do you want with me?” she repeated, more forcefully.

The aggression seemed to startle Morgana out of her reverie, and her eyes hardened.

“I want Camelot,” she said, perhaps more honestly than she intended. “I want to see how much Arthur loves you. And I want to see how fast he’ll come to find you.”

“Arthur isn’t stupid. He’ll know it’s a trap.”

“He’ll come anyway. You know it. He’ll spring the trap every time to rescue those he loves.”

Gwen said nothing. She knew she was right.

* * *

“You don’t have to do this,” Gwen said softly, hovering just outside the door at the top of the tower.

Morgana’s face fell slightly, displaying a small conflict. For the first time in so many years, Gwen saw her look almost, _almost_ , defeated.

As if possessed, Gwen raised her hand to gently brush Morgana’s cheek, and, touch-starved, Morgana leaned into it.

“Gwen…”

“Do you remember when we sat by the waterfall?”

A small laugh escaped Morgana, and a tear.

“You fell in,” Gwen continued. “Remember how you complained that your gown was destroyed?”

“I wasn’t really upset,” Morgana said softly, hesitantly. “I was…so happy.”

“Yes! And the picnic!”

“The picnic…”

“Do you really want to hurt me? Arthur?”

Morgana’s gloved hand covered Gwen’s resting on her cheek, and pulled it gently down.

The witch’s eyes met the queen’s.

“I only do what I must,” Morgana whispered.

With a shove, Gwen fell backwards, and the darkness enveloped her.

* * *

She was surrounded by screams.

They hammered at her ear, driving her to pace and turn until she collapsed on the floor clutching her head, caught in a darkness that choked her, forcing itself down her throat and into her lungs, writhing against her until it finally consumed her, and everything was black.

She woke to blood dripping down her face, through her fingers, and laughter echoing around the columns.

“Arthur will save me. Arthur will save me.”

* * *

“My dear.”

Gwen was shaken awake by Morgana. Gasping, she shuffled back until her back was pressed against a column.

“Gwen,” Morgana said soothingly. “Come and eat dinner with me. You must keep your strength up.”

As if walking through a dream, Gwen was pulled away, down the steps to a dusty table, one end covered in food.

“Smoked fish,” Morgana said. “Fresh. Your favourite.”

Gwen sat ramrod straight in the carved chair at the head of the table, and said nothing.

“You must eat,” Morgana insisted, “or you’ll fade away.”

Still, Gwen was silent.

“I don’t want you to break beyond recognition.”

“I won’t break in the first place.”

“You will.” Morgana looked down at her meal, her expression guarded. “Everyone does. Even me.”

Gwen’s head raised at that.

“Ah. You did not know.”

“Know what?”

Morgana smiled with pain and bitterness. “A warlord. He took me and trapped me in a living grave. I spent two years in darkness. Two years shackled to a wall in the bottom of a pit. Tormented every day.”

She stopped short and looked away. “I would have sold my soul for someone to show me kindness back then.”

Gwen’s face was morphing into pity and horror.

“I had no idea.”

“No-one cared. No-one has cared for a long time.”

Morgana ate her fill, and Gwen nibbled on bread in silence. The woman’s words were rolling around and around in Gwen’s mind. If even Morgana broke eventually, then did she even stand a chance?

When the table was clear, or at least the plate in front of Morgana was clear, the woman stood, and took Gwen back up the tower to the cursed room.

At the top of the staircase, Gwen paused. She could hear distant screams emanating from the room. She couldn’t tell if it was her imagination, as Morgana didn’t comment.

“Gwen?”

Gwen turned around to face Morgana, just outside the door, exactly as it had been the last time she entered.

“I…” she said, “I don’t know if I’ll survive,” she whispered.

Tearfully, she embraced Morgana.

“It will be over soon,” Morgana soothed. “You will survive, I know it.”

Behind her back, Gwen’s face hardened.

As they drew apart, Morgana looked unaware into Gwen’s resolute face.

“Gwen, what’s wrong?”

“I can’t go back.”

In a flurry of moving purple fabric, Gwen raised her hands and shoved Morgana as hard as she could, causing the other woman to fall backwards and tumble down the steps.

She thought her heart broke when she saw Morgana’s betrayed face.

* * *

It was dark again. Morgana was whipping her. She felt the lashes against her mind as sharply as if they were falling on her body.

Morgana screamed and laughed as the blows fell, and Gwen was once again surrounded by the cackles of voices she thought she recognised.

Suddenly the whip never came, and Gwen instead looked up into Morgana’s pale blue-lit face. “Betrayal,” she whispered. “Betrayal again. You thought it would work, that you could escape, but I have been betrayed too many times. You stand no chance against me. But this one cuts deeper than all the others. I have been betrayed by _you_!”

The whip was floating on its own now. It hovered in the air for a brief second and then it fell back onto its owner. The apparition taking the form of Morgana shrieked and held out her hands, falling backwards.

“You!” she cried as the whip caused smoke to plume from her as if it were making her evaporate. Now she was crying too. “You did this to me! You betrayed me!”

Gwen pressed her eyes closed as she lay in the foetal position.

She opened them when it fell silent.

Merlin’s face stared back at her.

* * *

“You’re so cold,” Morgana said the next time she entered, Gwen’s hands trembling within her own. “I have lit a fire for you.”

Gwen pulled away.

“Anything you want you can have. I’ll give it to you.”

The queen hid behind a column, and Morgana stood on the opposite side, facing away. “You need to eat. You will fade away if you don’t.”

No reply.

“Please let me help you, Gwen.”

“Why are you doing this?” Gwen asked, voice trembling.

Morgana walked around the column in front of Gwen, and took her hands.

“Because I love you.”

Gwen looked up into Morgana’s eyes tremulously. Fear and despair were written across as clear as day, but there was also hope there. It eased Morgana’s mind a little.

“Leave me alone,” Gwen said, pulling her hands away and moving to put another column between herself and Morgana.

“I want to help you, Gwen,” Morgana said. “I want to look after you. But I can’t if you won’t let me.”

Stooping down, she laid a hunk of bread on the floor.

“If you change your mind, let me know.”

* * *

Gwen was surrounded by her friends.

“Guinevere,” Arthur said.

“I know it’s not you.”

“Guinevere. It’s me.”

“I know it’s not you.”

“It’s me. You’re safe now.”

Holding that trembling piece of hope, Gwen looked up.

Arthur was right there, his face awash in blue light. Next to him was Merlin, and behind them were all the knights. She could see Elyan right at the front, and Lancelot just beside him.

She looked up in hope. They had come to rescue her.

They all started to laugh. Their expressions twisted into cruel smirks and alien masks.

“Commoner,” Leon said.

“Pretend queen,” Percival added.

“Weak,” Gwaine sneered.

“Weak,” they all repeated in unison.

They watched her expression fall, and her bury her head in her hands, and started to laugh again.

“Does she still think I loved her?” Lancelot asked. “I only wanted to get close to Arthur. I only used her to become a knight.”

“Does she know that we all knew what she and Morgana got up to when they were alone?” Leon asked. “Sleeping with the enemy.”

“Do you still sleep with Morgana?”

“Sneak away to see that traitor.”

“Traitor herself.”

“Worse: traitor to the traitor.”

“Traitor!”

“Traitor.”

They fell silent as Arthur stepped forward to finally address the sobbing girl.

“Hey, hey.”

Gwen looked up at the soft tone until she met Arthur’s eyes.

“I never loved you. I am disgusted by you.”

One by one the ghosts disappeared into smoke and laughter, until only Merlin remained.

His face was twisted and almost unrecognisable.

“Don’t you see,” he said, “ _we_ never loved you. _We_ have never cared about you. You are worthless to _us_.”

Then he was gone too.

* * *

Arthur, Merlin and the knights trekked through the Impenetrable Forest. Their cloaks were soaked and heavy with mud, their swords dull from hacking through vines. Every step hurt, and they were only going around in circles.

They were tired. Their cloaks were torn and their swords broken.

Still they fought through.

They had to rescue the queen.

* * *

“Morgana! Morgana please!”

Gwen beat against the door. She was screaming and clutching her head. She was surrounded and they were pressing in on her.

Morgana didn’t come, and the pain was too great to continue pounding at the door. She collapsed to the floor, hunched over.

The whispering was all around her. The voices were crushing her ribcage, once again forcing smoky shadows down her throat. She was choking again, and she felt her ears were bleeding.

Strong but deceptively soft hands gripped her shoulders, and a gentle voice was whispering that it was alright.

Gwen didn’t know who it was. All she knew was that it was a kind voice, and the owner of that voice was holding her in its arms.

“I’m here.”

Morgana breathed out, genuine regret seeping through every ounce of her body.

“My darling, it was wrong to make you suffer. The mandrake root is cruel. It pierces the depths of your soul, twisting your unconsciousness into the very image of fear and dread.”

Sense was returning to Gwen. “Morgana?” she whispered.

“Gwen, you’ve been so courageous. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Gwen buried her head into Morgana’s shoulder.

“Make it stop,” she sobbed. “Please, Morgana, make it stop.”

“I’ve made it stop,” Morgana said. “You’re alright now. You’re not alone. You need never be alone again.”

“I was alone here.”

“Not anymore. Not anymore, my darling.”

Wrapping them in magic, the room faded, and the two appeared elsewhere in front of a roaring fire, Morgana kneeling on the floor beside a leather cushioned couch, on top of which Gwen was lying limply.

“They taunted me,” Gwen said. “They hate me.”

“I’m sorry,” Morgana repeated, pressing Gwen’s limp hand to her forehead. “I’m sorry you had to see that, my love.”

Gwen lifted her other hand to stroke Morgana’s face. “It’s been a long time since you’ve called me that.”

“It’s true. It’s always been true. I love you.”

“I’m sorry for pushing you down the stairs.”

Morgana smiled. “You were scared. You were desperate. I don’t hold it against you. After all, I survived, didn’t I.”

“Thank you,” Gwen said. “And…I love you too. It’s only ever been you.”

“Not Arthur? Not Lancelot?”

“Never, milady.”

Gwen closed her eyes and fell back asleep.

Morgana looked up at her, moved a sliver of hair away from her face, and smiled. Slowly she started speaking words of enchantment, layering them over the queen’s already delicate and fractured psyche.

“I love you,” she whispered as she finished.

* * *

“I have to save her!” Arthur cried, throwing his sword down in frustration.

“We will,” Elyan assured him. “We have to.”

Arthur didn’t look convinced.

“We will, sire,” Merlin said. As usual, Arthur trusted Merlin’s word more than any other.

They pressed on.

Blisters and exhaustion came, and then skeletons and traps, but they pressed on. Arthur was always the most dedicated person to the ones he loved.

* * *

“Gwen, wake up,” Morgana whispered harshly.

“Morgana, what is it?”

“Arthur and his knights have come to rescue you.”

“But I don’t want to leave,” Gwen argued. “I want to stay with you.”

Morgana caressed her face. “If we are to take Camelot, we can only do it from the inside. I have tried and failed, but this may be the only way. I can do it, but I need your help.”

“I’ll do it,” Gwen replied with iron in her voice. She really was courageous.

“You will? Even if it means fighting against your brother? Your husband? Your king?”

“I will always be on your side, Morgana,” Gwen assured her. “I know you will protect me. I know the risks.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to read more, remember to subscribe to the series, and if you have any suggestions for where this should go, I'd love to hear it. I have two or three more stories I think I will write in this AU, but I'm always open to suggestions!
> 
> (19/12/19: If I don't post again before the 25th, then Merry Christmas!)
> 
> Bella


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